


companion

by redlight



Series: the harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Cute, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forests, Light Angst, M/M, THEYRE CUTE LET ME SHIP MY DUMB GREEN BOYS, dont ask me what kind of canon this is, link prefers sign but n doesnt know hylian sign so link is verbal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-12 10:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18008918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlight/pseuds/redlight
Summary: One green teenager encounters another in the forest. Names are learned, recklessness is scolded, and N makes a new friend.





	companion

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME TO MY NEW STUPID RARE SHIP

Link isn't like anyone he's ever met.

Well, it's not as though—N has met many people. He's been friends with Pokemon as a child, and his closest human friendship developed when the Hero of Unova crossed paths with him (the gleaming brown eyes and shiny hair, soft smiles and the promise of _friendship, us truth and ideals, we stay close to maintain balance, right, N?_ _friends forever—_ ) but interacting with new people—new humans—it's always been an ache for him. Hard to retain the knowledge and boundaries, hard to keep track of the nuances and conversation.

N can understand fire and electricity, and he can understand blind love and passion, he can understand the fabric of spacetime and the number of planets in their system, but people— _people_ are hard to understand.

He's still getting used to much of it—well, most of it. His friends, his Pokemon team—they help him, keep him as uplifted as they can. Zekrom, with their bellowing laugh that rings through the air like thunder, always says something like _you're trying your best, little green one_ , with a joking sort of tone that makes N smile—makes his cheeks flush with warmth, with affection. It's nice—he loves them all, he does. Zoroark tells him it's okay to be learning and Darmanitan says they're proud of the progress he's made.

But still—he doesn't have many human friends, outside of the Champion.

So meeting this man, new to the region—it's odd. N finds him during a trek through the forest, a man with wild blue eyes and his body tense. Dirt-ridden blonde hair in his eyes and an old-fashioned tunic that N recognizes from another region—Kanto or Kalos, perhaps?

He doesn't have Pokemon, and N—doesn't _understand that_.

He doesn't speak much, either, which N _can_ understand—but still! He doesn't know how this man _survived—_

He's always avoided the Pokemon Centers out of fear of talking to the nurses, and he doesn't battle his Pokemon, tries to keep them as safe as possible—but in this instance, it was probably necessary.

"You really ought to have some company with you—!" N is saying, trying to keep the fluster out of his breath and the heat in his cheeks at bay. "It's dangerous—Pokemon are lovely creatures, and they can be dear friends, but you have to consider the consequences of being run down by a wild Sawsbuck, or, Arceus forbid, a Druddigon! They have to protect themselves when they feel threatened!"

The man—Link, he had said, after a few attempts of N prodding and pulling his name from him—mumbles something N can't hear under his breath.

"I'm sorry, were you trying to be swallowed by a wild Rhyhorn?" N spins around to glare, his hands on his hips. It's a gesture he'd picked up from his dear friend, something exasperated and human.

Link blinks at him. He's—a few inches shorter than N, but N is used to being taller than a fair number of people. He's never exactly gotten used to being treated as big—( _sometimes the dark parts in his mind still tell him he's a useless, stupid little boy, good for nothing, not even his father could love him—_ )

No. No, Ghetsis was _wrong_. About _everything_.

—s-still. N isn't used to being treated as big. Still gets too used to curling up small and fragile when he can, and the blank look Link gives him vaguely ignites the urge to hide, but—! N has been working on this, and N has his friends, and he's stronger than this, so—!

"Aren't you going to respond?"

Link—gestures with his hands. N has seen Unovan Sign before, read it in books and seen it once or twice, but—he's unfamiliar with the meanings. In fact, Link could be using Kanto Sign or even Sinnoh Sign for all N can tell, and Link seems to understand that, his shoulders slumping.

"Don't like talkin'," Link says.

"You said _something_ under your breath!" But—N shouldn't push him on that, he's still _learning—_ Touya and Touko told him about this, to be careful with _boundaries_ , and Bianca nuzzled his cheek and said _you'll be better!_ while Cheren wrinkled his nose but said— _you're a fast learner_ , but N isn't a fast learner if he's questioning too much _again—_!

"I said—" Link shuffles. He looks good with the green in the forest trees, like he's suited for it. It has N fiddling with his own mint-green hair anxiously—a new habit that no one's thought to stop him on, and it doesn't hurt his teeth like biting his necklace used to ( _he still bites after nightmares and upset spells but he's working on it—_ )

"I said you were cute."

N blinks. Then he frowns. "Nice try, but you're not slipping away that easy! I still need to escort you to the Pokemon Center!"

Link snorts. It’s raspy and tired and it makes N shiver a little, ‘cause he thinks Link is _still_ making fun of him—which is _rude_ , but lecturing humans on societal norms aggressively is rude as well, so—

“That’s nice of you,”” Link says, and that—has the turmoil in his chest curling back into a reasonable shape, has N’s shoulders deflating. “But, really—you’re cute.”

“Zorua are cute,” N says. “Pikachu are, too—so are Swanna, oh, I _love_ Swanna, their feathers are so shiny? And Joltik.”

“I don’t know what those are.”

“—are you new to Unova? You seem to be.” N turns back around, spreading his arms wide as if to show Link the breadth of the forest surrounding Aspertia City and neighboring towns. “It’s really a gorgeous place!”

When he turns back to Link, he finds that he hasn’t been looking at N’s gestures to the nature. He’s, well, he still has his eyes on N. Alright then.

“I see,” says Link. “...you’ll be showing me around?”

And N—smiles. “Of course!”

Link needs to have _some_ sort of companion, after all!


End file.
